Changing Fate
by vlavlasbutt
Summary: Mordred learns of the prophecy that he will kill Arthur so him and Merlin set out to change his fate.
1. Hearing

"Gaius I can't just ignore what I've seen! It's fixed, it's destiny, fate, whatever you want to call it!"

"Merlin, we don't know that. The future is unclear, things can change."

"Not this."

Gaius sighed, he knew Merlin could be stubborn, but he also knew there was no changing his viewpoint at the moment. "Merlin, go to bed. It's late, you can sleep on it."

"It won't change." Merlin said matter-of-factly and turned to walk to his bed. He didn't want to believe it but he couldn't change what he saw that day in the water, what he had been shown, Mordred putting a sword right through Arthur's chest.

Killing the king was what Merlin was there to prevent, god knows how many times Merlin had saved his life, it seemed the king was prone to all types of incidents. Merlin liked Mordred, he really did, ever since he had met him all those years earlier. Mordred was just a young boy, a young druid boy who Merlin had helped escape. And now that young druid boy had grown up into a hansom young man who had killed Morgana to save Arthur and had earned his place as knight.

Merlin was tossing and turning under his covers, his body tense, face covered in sweat. He'd only been asleep for three hours but already he's dreamt of Mordred killing Arthur twice. Every night this would happen, Merlin would wake from his own dream, and always the same dream. Mordred would be standing their in his chainmail and red cloak with his sword out and Arthur would just be knelt there, as if to be waiting for the sword to enter him. The dream was as if Merlin was there watching it all happen. He tried to shout every time for Mordred to stop to cause some kind of distraction but it always seemed that Mordred could not hear anything going on around him, like he was transfixed. Merlin was, in every sense of the word, useless in the dream. There was nothing he could do, nothing his powers could do, he'd tried it, even right in front of Arthur, but still Mordred's sword cut through Arthur's flesh like scissors to silk.

Merlin sat up in bed and rubbed his face with his hands. Maybe Gaius was right, maybe the future was unclear and Arthur's destiny could be changed. Merlin slid out of bed and into his clothes, it was still dark but coming up to dawn, he would have to be quick and he ran out the castle and into the forest.

Merlin ran quickly to where he had been many times before. He quickly summoned the dragon hoping for an answer.

"The druid boy? His and Arthur's fate are dawn together like Ivy around a tree."

"Is there nothing I can do?"

"Sometimes to save the tree, the ivy must be cut. You had a chance to kill the druid boy before, if you have another, you must not fail."

Merlin ran back to the castle with a sunken stomach. That had not been the answer he had wanted. He had to kill Mordred or let Arthur be killed. It was clear to him where his duty lay.

"Where have you been! I've had Arthur on my case looking for you!" Gaius spoke franticly as Merlin ran into him in one of the many corridors in the castle, he hadn't realised how light it was now, and Merlin knew when he was in trouble. "Come on then, where were you?"

"I- I went to the dragon. He said there was nothing I could do. I have to kill Mordred before he kills Arthur!" Merlin realised he had spoken too loudly, Gaius looked past Merlin's head suddenly and Merlin turned to look. There stood quiet nearby staring right at Merlin was Mordred, his eyes wide, taking in what he had just overheard.

Merlin turned straight back to Gaius with a worried look.

"We'll take him down to my quarters." Gaius replied to Merlin's look rather calmly. "Come with me boy." Gaius said louder for Mordred to hear.

Merlin just stood there, frozen while Mordred slowly moved past him towards Gaius, clearly very shaken.

"Merlin!" It was Arthur who had just walked onto the corridor. "I've been looking for you, where were you? I swear you're useless half the time. Anyway, have you seen Mordred? I'm looking for him."

Merlin was still stood where he was sort of frozen into place.

"Merlin?"

Merlin cleared his throat. "Um, yes? I mean, um, no. I haven't. I've got to, um, go." and he quickly ran the way Gaius had taken Mordred.

"Merlin?" he heard Arthur shout from behind.


	2. I Want To Change

Mordred sat stiffly in a chair near Gaius' desk.

"I'm such an idiot. Gaius, I'm so sorry. What can you do? Can you give him something to make him forget?" Merlin whispered in a panic to Gaius.

"No, no, he needs to know."

"Needs to know? But he does know. He must know he's going to kill Arthur!" Merlin realised he was almost shouting again. He looked quickly at Mordred who was still sat there like cardboard staring at the floor. "He has to!" he whispered again.

"Look at him, does he look like someone who's just been found out?"

"Um, yes!"

"No Merlin."

Gaius turned to the young knight, "Mordred, do you know what you heard?"

Mordred looked straight into Gaius' eyes. "I- I don't know."

"Try"

"I was going to kill Arthur. But I'm not! Honestly! Why would I! I would never!" he replied in a rushed panic.

"Shh, it's okay. You honestly know nothing of this?"

"No? What? No!"

Merlin scoffed in the corner but Gaius threw him a stern look.

"Mordred, this is very important that you don't tell anyone of what you've heard. Pretend this never happened."

"No, what is this? I know he knows Magic" he turned to Merlin "if he knows something, I want to know" he looked back at Gaius.

Gaius gestured for Merlin to take his place.

The knight's panicked blue eyes met Merlin's.

Merlin laughed nervously, "It's nothing really."

"Killing the king is not nothing."

Merlin wasn't sure whether Mordred honestly knew nothing or was bluffing, but he for some reason felt sorry for the knight. It was those eyes, he felt like he was drowning in them. Coming back to reality, Mordred was of course right, killing the king wasn't 'nothing'. Gaius gave a cough to coax it out of Merlin.

Merlin sighed, he didn't want to tell Mordred everything, but if he really knew nothing of it, he'd better know why Merlin would try and kill him in weeks to come. Mordred's eyes were still fixed on Merlin's. "I was shown a prophecy . A prophecy that you would kill Arthur."

Mordred let out a small choked laugh, "You can't honestly think I would do this!"

"I saw it! With my own eyes! And now it's your and Arthur's destiny!" Merlin was now shouting, "I don't know what to think, okay! But it happened."

"Yeah, in a vision!"

"A prophecy !"

"Men, calm down" Gaius cut in, "we don't know what it was, it could be nothing-"

He was cut off by Merlin "could be, but it's not! You know what the dragon told me!"

"Dragon?" Mordred added.

Merlin looked at Gaius, he's really let it all out now.

The three sat down and told all they knew. Merlin explained to Mordred all about being the last dragon lord, and seeing as he already knew about Merlin being Emrys, Mordred was now the second person to know Merlin's secret. He'd just let out a huge part of his life, Mordred knew all and Merlin would have to trust he would never mention it to Arthur, but he did. Merlin felt a huge amount of trust in Mordred, not only because he could use magic too, there was something else he couldn't put his hand on.

"So, according to the prophecy and the dragon, I will kill Arthur and there's nothing anyone can do about it?" the young knight asked, his voice lower, no longer making eye contact. He now believed what he had heard, Merlin and Gaius wouldn't joke about this like the others had been joking with him, this is bigger, more serious.

Merlin looked down and nodded and Gaius replied with a "yes" which was barely a whisper.

Gaius left the room into one of the back rooms filled with his work and studying and the two young men sat there staring at the floor. Merlin didn't want this for Mordred, but as they knew there was nothing they could do.

Mordred and Merlin looked up at each other. The knight's eyes were red and filling up.

"I want to change." he whispered.


	3. Sacrifice

Merlin stood up without saying a word and left the room leaving the young knight alone with his thoughts.

Merlin arrived in Arthur's quarters.

"Merlin! There you are. You've been ages, where did you go?"

"Sorry, I was had some business to sort out with Gaius."

"Are you okay Merlin? Your eyes.."

Merlin turned to the mirror, he was right, his eyes were red, like the knight's. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes dry and cleared his throat. "Um, yes, sorry, I must have been allergic to whatever Gaius had out."

"Hmm, okay. Well you're in trouble, you haven't turned up to your duties this morning, it's almost time for the knight's meeting."

"Sorry sire."

"Well you can miss lunch and make my bed, clean my armour until I can see my face in it and go find Mordred for me."

"What do you want with Mordred?"

"Never you mind." and Merlin got to work, he had no effort to complain after this morning.

The meeting around the round table had begun but Mordred had only just left Gaius' chambers. He'd had a lot to think about, and he'd needed time to clean his face, he didn't want the other knights thinking he was weak.

"Ah, young Mordred! Nice of you to finally join us!"

"Sorry sire."

"No need to apologise, I'm sure you have a good enough reason. Anyway, where were we..."

The meeting didn't last very long, they had discussed who'd be going on which missions, Mordred had only been set on one as a new knight, but he had a lot of training with the others, but mostly one on ones with Arthur.

Merlin had been slow at work today, his mind was caught up in other things. He kept seeing Mordred's blue eyes welling up. This was so wrong he though, if Mordred had no idea he was destined to murder Arthur, how would he do it? He would have to keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn't go off alone. Merlin knew what magic could do, and clearly not everyone used magic for good.

That night Merlin had a different dream, this time it was Arthur, very much alive, banishing Mordred for using magic. Although this dream didn't wake Merlin up in pools of sweat, it did leave him with what felt like an empty space inside him.

A few days past, Mordred was quiet but nobody suspected anything, and he hadn't spoken to Merlin since that morning.

That night Merlin was asleep having another dream about Mordred. This time it was his eyes, he was falling into them, into the deep blue, and found himself drowning. In a panic he woke himself up, but in fact he woke to the sound of the door being knocked on. He sleepily stood up and walked to the door and opened it to a very tired looking Mordred.

Merlin gestured for Mordred to sit on the edge of his bed and pored him a drink before joining him.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes sipping their drink.

"What brings you here Mordred?" Merlin asked turning to meet the ocean eyes.

"I need to know, for sure, that there's nothing we can do."

"I don't know Mordred. I'm sorry, we just can't know."

Mordred looked down to hide his welling eyes. He loved his king, he wanted to be loyal, he was so thankful Arthur had let him live, and thankful for Merlin for saving him when he was younger. He owed his life to both of them. He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow and some when he was going to kill Arthur, his king.

Mordred had an idea, he looked back up at Merlin, "You said about the dragon, we can ask him, he would know, wouldn't he?"

"I've already asked him, you know that, he said-" Merlin stopped, he didn't want to say it.

"He said you'd have to kill me." the younger finished in barely a whisper, "then do it."

Merlin stopped and stared at the young knight, his head bowed, tears visibly running down his cheeks, Merlin's eyes now too welling up. He knew this was the only solution, he just didn't want to believe it.

Merlin had never really cried in front of someone he barely knew before. They had known each other for only a few weeks, yet Mordred knew everything about Merlin and Merlin knew a lot about Mordred and his past, so despite this, they felt like they'd known each other for a lifetime.

"Do it." Mordred repeated.

"No. I- I can't."

"You have to." Merlin knew Mordred was right.. he _had_ to.

"Not now." he breathed.

"You have to. We don't know when it's going to happen, or what's going to happen, but it will. Please you have to. I'm asking you to."


	4. Decisions

"I think you should leave. It's nearly morning, the other knight's will be wondering where you are."

Mordred looked up confused, "I thought.."

"Not today. Not now."

Mordred just gave a small nod before standing up, placing his half empty cup on the small table by Merlin's bed and turned to leave. "Goodbye Merlin."

Merlin didn't go back to sleep that night, he didn't move from when Mordred had been sat next to him and he soon found himself being called by Gaius to get to work.

Merlin got dress out of his night clothes and walked on through to Gaius.

"Go on, you're already late!" but Merlin just stood there.

"Gaius"

"What is it Merlin?"

"Is there chance the dragon was wrong, and I can save them both?"

Gaius sighed, "we cannot know for sure Merlin. Now go to work, I don't want the king on my case again."

Merlin said nothing and went to walk out the room.

"You'll find a way Merlin, you always do."

Merlin found it very hard to concentrate that day but fortunately Arthur was with Gwen most of the time so he had little to do. He wondered about the grounds and went out to the grassy area where the knights train, and there was Mordred with Percival training. They had clearly been there a while, Mordred looked sweaty and worn out.

"Merlin?" It was Arthur who had turned up just afterwards. "Not slacking are we Merlin?"

"Er, no, no, just, erm."

The king laughed and playfully put his hand on the servant's shoulder, "He's good isn't he," seeing at Merlin was watching Mordred intently, "he'll grow into a fine knight don't you think?"

Merlin didn't reply, he just kept on watching.

"Merlin?"

All of a sudden Mordred fell to the ground with a thump and within a matter of milliseconds Merlin was there by his side, Arthur following him. Mordred look up at Merlin, "I'm fine" he said while trying to stand. After being unsuccessful for the third time Arthur ordered Merlin to take him to Gaius.

The three of them, Mordred draped over Merlin and Arthur's shoulders, walked in silence, Arthur occasionally trying to make small talk.

"Back again young Mordred?" Gaius was somehow not that surprised to see the young knight again. Mordred just smiled in responce, Arthur had not known he'd been here before, and this was clear from the king's expression.

"You've met Gaius?"

"He came to me for some advice the other day."

Arthur seemed to take it and left.

"What have you done to yourself boy?"

"I'm fine." Mordred answered.

"If that were true, you would not be here."

"He was training with Percival" Merlin felt the need to step in, "when he hit himself with the corner of his shield."

Mordred looked down, ashamed. He was doing so well, but having to control two heavy objects at the same time was clearly not his strong point.

"No need to worry my boy, accidents happen."

Mordred met Gaius' eyes and gave a half smile, "I'm fine, honestly, I'll go now." He went to stand up but Merlin pushed him back down.

"Don't be stupid, you could barely stand up a minute ago."

Gaius had gone to mix up some kind of potion that would restore Mordred back to full health. Leaving the two on their own.

Merlin sat next to Mordred, the two of them sat there in silence, Merlin didn't know the best thing to say, but Mordred had an idea, "You'll have to do it you know."

"Do what?" Merlin said, but only half hearing what Mordred had said.

"Last night, you'll have to do it."

Merlin looked at Mordred with sadness in his eyes. "I wont." his voice barely a whisper.

Gaius re-entered the room with a small green bottle but before he had a chance to give it to Mordred, the knight asked "He's right isn't he, I have to die."

Gaius was shocked by the suddenness of the questions. "The future is unclear, you could be a threat, you could not, we simply do not know."

"But it is prophesied that I will kill Arthur. I am a threat to the king. Surely it your duty to ensure that threats towards the king are removed?"

Gaius took a seat next to the boys, noticing that Merlin had been particularly quiet.

"It's not as simple as that. The Disir have said that Arthur will die unless he converts back to the old religion, and after all his father's hard word to rid Camelot of magic, I can not see that happening. If the prophecy is true, and you are the one who kills Arthur, who's to say that if you are killed there wont be something else that will kill him, and / or destruction may come to Camelot. Either way, your death would not help Arthur in the long run, he needs you now as a knight to serve him, and it is your duty to do so."

Weeks past, Mordred had recovered and had continued training with the other knights and had also been on two hunting trips with the king, he finally began to feel like he was fitting in.

Merlin was busy tidying Arthur's quarters and cleaning when suddenly there was someone stood in the doorway. "Yes?" he questioned as he turned around to see who was there. It was young Mordred. Merlin was confused as to why he was here, "the king is out jousting, I assumed you would know." he said as he puffed up a pillow.

"I know. I'm not looking for the king. I was looking for you."

"Well you found me!" Merlin replied jokily, "I've got a bit of work to do though, Arthur's having me wash every part of his armour for waking him up early this morning. It was funny though, should have seen his face."

Mordred smiled.

"So what do you want?"

"To talk to you."

Merlin looked up at the knight, still stood in the doorway, "well I need to finish in here first, can you talk here?"

"No. I mean, I would rather go somewhere else, more private."

Merlin was confused but agreed, "Let me finish here and I'll be with you."

Mordred stayed in the doorway as Merlin changed Arthur's bed sheets and puffed up all his pillows. Amazingly only a few minutes later and Merlin cried "Done!" from across the room as he jogged up to the doorway, "So, where do you want to go?"

"Follow me"

Merlin was still confused but he followed the knights orders and followed him down the stairs, through the castle, out the castle.. "are we going into the forest?"

"Yeah" Mordred answered from in front.

"Erm, why?"

"I want to show you something."

"You could have said" and the two carried on.

They walked deeper and deeper into the forest into a place where even Merlin didn't know until Mordred stopped, "Here."

Merlin stopped and looked around him, the place was beautiful. Mordred had taken him to a small clearing in the forest, but it was surrounded by colourful plants, towering green trees and a small river running past. "It's beautiful." he said stunned by the place he'd never been to. "But why?"

"I want to see your magic."

"What?" he laughed, "why, you have magic too."

"Yes, but I am not as powerful as you. Show me something."

Merlin was staring deep into Mordred's eyes before lowering himself to the ground, gesturing the knights to follow. They were sat cross legged on the ground.

"Watch" said Merlin in a hushed tone and Mordred looked at a small withered flower which had been squashed into the ground. He felt bad as this had probably happened from his many visits where he would come down to keep his mind straight, which had been increasing recently.

Mordred watched the flower as Merlin chanted in a tongue all too familiar with him, and the flower shot back up, a beautiful shade of purple.

Mordred looked up into Merlin's eyes and smiled. "In such dark times we live in, we rarely see magic used for things as beautiful as this."

Merlin knew he was right, and looking back down at the flower Mordred stood up.

"There is another reason I brought you here Merlin. I know what your magic can do, and I know you only use it for good, so I'm asking, as a friend, that you use your magic, here and now, to remove me as a threat to the king."


	5. Feelings

Hello people, thanks for all the kind messages. This is my first fanfic for Merlin, and having only joined the fandom recently, please excuse me if there are any errors with my background info. I feel I'm dragging this part of the story line out, but it'll all become clear soon, promise. Also, cute stuff will come in soon, I need some cheering up. Please enjoy and let me know of anything. Thanks for following, I love you all dearly! - Emilie xx

**Chapter Five: Feelings**

Merlin shot up, "No, stop it" he shouted, "We've sorted this, haven't we? You don't need to die, something will happen to Arthur even if you do. It'll all be for nothing."

"But it won't" Mordred shouted back, it angered him that Merlin wouldn't do this to protect the king. He calmed down and lowered his head, "I can't sleep at night knowing what will become of me, and even if I do, I dream that I am killing the king. I don't want this. I want it to be over."

"You've heard what I have to say, I'm not killing anyone, not without knowing for sure, and we don't, so I'm not."

The knight was silent.

"Gaius can fix you up with a sleeping draught, induce a deeper sleep so the nightmares go, we can get through this."

It was silent for a few moments as Mordred considered what Merlin had to say. "But that still won't stop me killing the king." his voice hushed, he looked up at Merlin, "Promise me this Merlin, the moment I try anything, the moment you think I am about to.. Please promise me you'll stop me, with whatever it takes, please."

Merlin looked up to meet the knight's eyes, "I promise."

The two of them stood in silence for a few moments before making their way back to the castle.

"And where have you been Merlin?"

Merlin jumped, Arthur had taken him by surprise as the two of them walked back onto castle grounds.

"Shouldn't you be cleaning my armour?"

"He was trying to find me, my lord."

Merlin looked at him, shocked that he was willing to cover up for him, although he'd never had problems lying to Arthur before.

"I was going out for a stroll, to clear my head after a hard mornings training. Merlin saw me and came to tell me it was nearly time for the feast."

In all honesty Merlin had forgotten about the feast and knew he would have to rush to Arthur's chambers to get his clothes ready.

Arthur nodded, "well off you go then, and Merlin, I trust you have finished with my armour?"

Merlin smiled and laughed nervously, "almost?" he replied cheekily.

Arthur playfully swiped him across the head, "you are useless sometimes."

"You wouldn't last a day without me" Merlin laughed.

Merlin ran up to Arthur's chambers and quickly set out an outfit for the king before rushing to polish the armour.

"This is what you've set me out to wear?" Arthur looked at Merlin sternly and Merlin looked at what he was holding up. In his rush he had set out Arthur's sleeping clothes as a force of habit. Merlin laughed and put his hand on the back of his neck.

"This isn't a joke Merlin."

The servant couldn't help but laugh to himself, "Sorry" he said as he quickly rushed to Arthur's draws and pulled out some more suitable clothes and handed them to Arthur before leaving the room.

Merlin ran to Gaius to ask him for the sleeping draught for Mordred, which fortunately Gaius had some ready.

"That should help the boy. Let me know if he needs something stronger."

And with that Merlin left for the feast, of which he was sure he was already late for.

Days past and Merlin kept a close eye on Mordred, making sure that whenever he was not with Arthur, he was with the knight. He had already had to ask Gaius to make a stronger sleeping draught, but eventually Mordred's nightmares stopped. These days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The young knight had now grown strong and now felt like he truly belonged. He had travelled many times with Arthur and the others and became a skilled hunter in his spare time. He was particularly close to Merlin, he would go as far as to say he was his best friend. He felt safe around him and had slowly come out of his shell, Arthur in particular had noticed this.

Merlin was busy changing Arthur's sheets while the king changed behind the divider.

"So, Mordred's certainly grown, don't you think? He's almost as strong as the others now."

Merlin didn't really know how to respond other than a simple "Yeah."

"He seems to have taken a particular shining to you. I can't imagine why."

Merlin smiled, he knew Arthur was toying with him.

"I mean you're always with the boy, anyone would think.."

The servant laughed out loud, "and what would they think?"

The king was now changed and stood near Merlin, still changing the bedding. "Anyone would think you had feelings for the boy." Merlin laughed again. "I've seen you, watching him in the corner of your eye."

"Ha, he's a nice lad, but.."

"But?"

Merlin finished with the sheets and walked round the bed to the other side.

"But?" Arthur insisted.

"He's a handsome young man, I can see why all the ladies swoon over him" he paused, "but.. no."

"But no, what?" Arthur was desperate to coax something out of him. He knew there was something there, he had acted exactly the same with Guinevere, and now look at them, happily married, king and queen.

Merlin puffed up a final pillow and ignored the question. "I think I'm done here" he looked at Arthur for his leave.

The king sighed, "Fine, go."

With his leave Merlin walked out the castle smiling to himself, he had to admit to himself, Mordred was very handsome, and he felt like there had always been something more there, but had he been that obvious? Merlin didn't mind, if anything he was glad somebody had noticed, and he had even more to smile about.

Mordred was stood by the castle grounds ready to meet Merlin in their usual meeting space. They would regularly go down to the clearing and just chat and having to think up some feeble excuse for being out of the castle. But this time, little to Merlin's knowledge, Arthur had followed him down to the grounds to find Mordred, knowing Merlin would lead him to the knight.

"Mordred, can I speak to you a moment?"

Merlin turned on his heels, he hadn't noticed the king behind him, and really hoped the king hadn't seen him almost skip out onto the grounds.

"Yes sire?" the knight started walking towards the king, smiling at Merlin as he past, hoping he'd be able to rejoin him later.

Merlin knew he wouldn't be able to leave in plain sight of Arthur so he changed his course and headed towards the stable.

"You wanted me sire?"

"Yes, I was wondering if we could talk about how you're fitting in as a knight." Arthur was willing to use any excuse to find out about him and Merlin. There was barely any drama around Camelot these days.

Mordred was confused, but agreed, and Arthur lead him to a small cosy room with a lit fire surrounded by chairs. He gestured for the knight to take a seat before sitting down himself.

The king couldn't help but smile, he was being mischievous and he knew it. "So, how is your training going? I see you're much stronger now."

The young knight was still confused, "Yes, it is going well, I have learnt a lot from you and the others."

"And Merlin, you seem to have gotten on well with him."

"Yes, he is very kind. He had helped me a lot."

"You spend a lot of time with him, it's good to see you have made friends."

"Yes sire. I would say he is my best friend."

Arthur continued smiling, "He's certainly taken with you."

"What do you mean?" he wanted to seem confused, but was secretly fighting off a smile.

"Well, he seems to be always with you. Oh, and he always has you in the corner of his eye."

With this Mordred gave up fighting and smiled. This just made Arthur grin even further.

"So, just friends?"

Mordred's grin lowered and he turned into a more serious tone, "just friends."


	6. Firewood

Hello, I've had a bit of a problem with my laptop and I lost some of the story so I've had to re-write this chapter, but hopefully this won't be a problem, except it's a little shorter due to time I had as I won't have internet over the weekend, so no updates I'm afraid! Stay tuned on Monday! X

**Chapter Six: Firewood**  
That was enough evidence for Arthur, he hadn't been mischievous in a while and now he felt like doing a little matchmaking.

"Merlin, can you fetch Mordred for me?"  
"What's the magic word?" Merlin replied jokily.  
Arthur gave him a stern look, but the servant just threw the look back at him and laughed.  
The king sighed, "please."  
"My pleasure." And Merlin turned and walked out the door.

Merlin strutted through the castle, today was going to be a good day, he could feel it. He walked out onto the castle grounds, it was a little past midday so most of the knights were out here training but Mordred was the only one missing.

"Gwain have you seen Mordred?"  
"He's in the stables I believe."  
"Thank you."

Mordred spent a lot of his time in the stables, he was very fond of his horse and was keen to look after her himself. This particular day he was in the stables alone until he heard the large wooden doors open, he turned on his heels and too his surprise it was Merlin.

They both smiled as the greeted each other.  
"Arthur wants to speak to you."  
"Okay, thank you." Mordred stroked his horse's nose and the two of them walked back through the castle grounds, discussing what Arthur could want with him this time.

"Mordred, I would like you to accompany Merlin and myself on my next hunting trip, but this time we will be going further into the forest, and should be away for a day or two. Please ready your horse and gear, we leave tomorrow at dawn."

The next day the three of them were up early, before anyone else in the castle had woken. Mordred and Arthur were ready on their horses while Merlin finished loading supplies on the back of his, and before long they started traveling deep into the forest.

At first they had little to talk about but as the travelled through the day conversations started to pick up.

Arthur rode in the middle with Merlin on his left and Mordred on his right. And as the light started to fade Arthur suggest they stop. A river could be heard nearby and the thick green trees filled the night sky.

Arthur jumped off his horse and felt the ground.  
"It's damp here, you two go find some dry wood and I'll clear the area for a fire"

Merlin and Mordred started walking west, silent at first then Merlin found something to say.  
"What did Arthur want with you the other day?"  
"Oh, nothing really, just to see how I was settling in."  
"And what did you say?"  
"That I was fine and glad for everyone's help."  
"Oh, okay. Anything about how amazing I am?" he joked.  
Mordred laughed, "maybe" he said cheekily.

The two of them hadn't walked far and all of a sudden they heard Arthur shout out, but not in danger, or pain, he shouted "can you two just get together already?!"

They turned quickly to the sound of Arthur's voice. Neither of them could believe it, they stared at each other stunned and Mordred laughed nervously.

"So that's what you said about me." Merlin replied after a slight pause, trying to hide his deep grin. He turned back round to meet Mordred's gaze but he'd gone. Merlin turned around quickly to see where the knight could have gone. He turned in all directions, again and again scanning the area. "Mordred?" he shouted. He ran back to Arthur. "He's gone. He was there, and now he's gone."  
"What do you mean, Merlin? He was with you."  
"He was, but now he's gone."


	7. It's Time

Hello again! Sorry I didn't update Monday, I was too lazy to write on the weekend ;)

**Chapter Seven: It's Time**

This hadn't been part of Arthur's plan, neither had shouting 'that' out, but he couldn't help himself.

"Wait, wait a minute Merlin. Calm down." but it was too late, Merlin was already on his horse riding the way he and Mordred had walked just a few minutes ago. Arthur sighed and got on his horse to follow Merlin.

Merlin rode ahead, using his magic to look deeper into the forest, there seemed to be a trail which seemed to lead into all different directions. The two of them rode for hours, neither of them speaking, trying to follow the ever changing trail.

"Merlin this is hopeless, it's getting dark, let's go back. I'll send out the knights tomorrow, in the day light to search for him."

Merlin knew Arthur was right, but he didn't want to give up. He didn't say anything, he didn't want to admit defeat by whatever had Mordred. The young knight couldn't have just vanished on his own like that, leaving a trail.. Merlin stopped and Arthur turned to go back to where they'd been a few hours ago.

When Arthur was out of immediate sight he used his magic, searching the surrounding area in all directions.

There was nothing. The trail did lead on but not far. It seemed to come to a sudden stop only slightly further into the forest. Having to admit defeat to give into the nature of daylight Merlin turned and followed Arthur back the way they'd come, before leading Mordred's horse back to the castle grounds.

Once back in Camelot the king turned to the servant, "we'll find him Merlin. I promise. You may return to Gaius." before bowing his head and turning to walk to his chambers.

"The trail just seemed to stop, in the middle of nowhere Gaius!"  
"The boy knows sorcery, he could have led you off track."  
"But why would he just vanish like that? It makes no sense."

It was now late into the night and the castle grounds were quiet. Only the slight whistle of the wind against the castle walls could be heard.

Gaius looked at the younger as if to say 'you know the answer' and after a moment of silence he said it, "you know the prophecy Merlin. You know what this could mean."

"What! What could it mean! If he was going to do it, wouldn't he need to gain the trust of the king and do it by his side? Not disappear then magically reappear!"

"But what if it wasn't him Merlin. You admitted it yourself, he had no clue of the prophecy. You say the trail seemed to stop suddenly, it wavered in different directions, you know it is sorcery."

"What are you saying?" of course he know what Gaius meant, but he didn't want to have to believe it, not after they'd thought they'd gotten rid of the problem. The problem of, "Morgana."

The next day Arthur awoke early and ordered Merlin to call on the knights to meet at the round table. This was to be an urgent meeting. One of his knights was missing, and in danger as far as he knew.

The knights all sat awaiting the purpose of this sudden meeting.

"Yesterday, as a few of you may know, myself, Merlin and Mordred went into the forest for a three day hunting trip. And as you would have noticed, one of us did not return." everyone turned and looked at the empty space that once sat Mordred and looked back at the king. "We do not know what happened to him, so today, I call for all of you to join me in searching for him. He couldn't have gone far and I expect to find him. Please be ready to ride at noon."

Soon all the knights were riding deep into the forest accompanied by Merlin and the king. None of them had a clue of what had happened to Mordred, but still they rode following the orders of their king.

The king and Merlin led the way, following the trail they had found the evening before. It was harder to follow this time, even in the daylight. Animals in the night had walked over the track causing it to stop in places. But what was bothering Merlin was that the trail wasn't of human footprints, nor horse, they were something different, something he knew all too well. Dragon tracks.

Again they rode until the trail came to an absolute stop. Merlin got off his horse and knelt down to where the trail finished. Ge touched and ground and skimmed the area with the palm of his hand. There was definitely magic involved. He looked at at his king who was awaiting a response, "sorcery is involved here."  
"How can you tell?"

"The trail comes to a sudden stop with no signs of struggle, and the ground, the ground is.. different. I've seen it before with Gaius."

Arthur was stuck, he had no idea what happened to Mordred, their only chance to find him would be to just continue.

"We'll ride until sundown and make camp." He said before continuing to walk beyond the trail.

The knights rode for hours before coming to a stop to make camp. There had been no evidence of where the youngest knight could be other than the trail they left behind long ago. Arthur had almost given up hope and so had Merlin who had ridden ahead the whole journey, enabling him to use his magic to search the area.

There was nothing. The last trace of Mordred's disappearance had vanished miles behind them. And that night Merlin didn't sleep. His brain was going over all the possibilities, it troubled him of the very few that there were.

When they had all awoken they continued to ride further into the unknown. Arthur was stuck for clues and soon he had no reason to continue, "I think it is time we went back. Merlin, you can talk to Gaius, see what the sorcery means. I'll send a message to the kingdom, he can't be far."

Weeks passed and there had been no news. The message had spread to surrounding kingdoms, but still nothing was to be heard. Gaius and Merlin had discussed at length about the dragon tracks, and the possibilities of Morgana playing her role in Arthur's death. But as for Mordred, he saw no chance of his return. At first he had held onto the hope that he would return, but soon is became clear there was no evidence to suggest he would.

Merlin was late, the king was already at his birthday feast, and he could hear the talking and laughter from down the corridor.

Arthur had seen over the weeks that Merlin's face had been glum. He hadn't been his normal self, he wasn't laughing at his jokes, and the king felt responsible.

"I'm sorry Merlin." He whispered to his servant, "I shouldn't have promised."

The door opened, loudly due to its immense size. And walked in, Mordred. Dressed as he was when he had vanished, without a scratch or any suggestion he had been missing for over a month.


	8. Murder

**Chapter Eight: Murder**

Arthur's face lit up, faces turned towards the doors and the room broke into silence, before gradually turning into mutters and whispers.

The young knight smiled and the king stood up to greet him.

The king took him firmly by the hand, pulling him close into a hug and patting him on the back.  
"You're alive!" the king laughed, "you must tell us what happened." and gestured him to take a seat.

The knight looked around at the large amount of people gathered in the great hall. He didn't want to tell all in front of a huge crowd, but felt he had no choice. He took a seat and began to tell of what had happened.

"I was with you, the king and Merlin, out in the forest. We had gone to look for dry wood to make a fire, when we stopped, I heard the king shout something but before I knew it, I wasn't in the forest any more. I'm not sure how I got there, but.." the knight paused, look up to meet the king's eyes, "It was Morgana."

The room broke out into mutters again, but the king pressed on for Mordred to continue, "what did she do to you?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It was some sort of sorcery. And she told me, when I woke up, that I had been unconscious for some time, a few days I think. She gave me food and water but other than that I didn't see her, or anybody else for another few days. Food was pushed in occasionally, but other than that it was darkness."

The king patted him on the arm, "I'm glad you're safe Mordred. But, how did you manage to return?"

"That's the thing. I don't know."

The king looked at him confused, Merlin sharing the same look from the background.  
"I think she must have used Sorcery again, but I don't know why she chose to let me go. I just woke up in the forest, not far from where I had vanished from, so I came straight back to Camelot, to the castle, and into here."

The king looked worried for the knight, not knowing what had happened to him, but Merlin took a different perspective. Why had Morgana let him go? And why take him in the first place?

"You must be starving, eat, drink" the king gestured to the many plates and goblets that filled the table, "then when you are full you may go rest."

"Sire, don't you think he should see Gaius first." Merlin interjected.

Arthur laughed, "let the boy eat first."

Merlin ran down to Gaius. "He's back. Mordred's back." Merlin said in a rushed, out of breath panic.

"Surely this is good news Merlin?"

"It is. Sort of. He's been with Morgana all this time, and hardly remembers a thing. There's heavy sorcery involved Gaius."

"Where is he now?"

"With the king, eating."

"Bring him to me. I'll check him over."

With this Merlin sped back up to the great hall which was now full again of loud talking and laughter.

The king was sat talking to the young knight so Merlin walked up behind them and stood there.

"Yes?" the king said sarcastic as he looked up and Merlin.

"I'm just waiting for Mordred to finish, so I can take him down to Gaius."

"The boy doesn't need a bodyguard Merlin."

Merlin took a step back and gave Arthur a 'happy now?' sort of look, and the king resumed his conversations.

A little while later Merlin felt himself being tapped on the shoulder. He had wondered off into his thoughts. It was Mordred, who smiled at him "I'm ready now."

Merlin nodded and they walked down together.

"He missed you, you know?"

"Huh?"

"Arthur. He missed you. We all did."

Mordred smiled, he was glad to be back.

Gaius checked the knight over, asking him lots of bizarre questions before coming to the awaited conclusion. "You're fine. It amazes me, but Morgana left nothing, not even a scratch on you. Once you've eaten and slept a bit more, I should think of nothing that would stop you from rejoining the knights."

Mordred's face morphed into a huge smile. He had been so worried Morgana had left some sort of large spell on him, that at one point on his journey back, he had thought about not returning to Camelot, but he was glad he had.

"You've been very lucky. Nobody can know why Morgana did what she did, but you're fine, and well." the old man turned to Merlin, "you can take Mordred back to his chamber now."

Within a week Mordred was back training with the knights, he spirits lifted by Gaius' news that he was clear of dark magic. But not everyone in the grounds of Camelot was so sure of his safety.

"It still makes no sense Gaius. Why would Morgana take him, only to let him go again."

"Merlin, we can not know. He seems fine, he's rejoined his duties with a joyful spirit, and so should you."

"That's what we thought when Gwen was taken. She returned, seeming fine, only to attempt to kill the king, on too many occasions!"

"But she didn't, Arthur is still alive. And the curse was lifted. All is, and has been, well."

"Arthur almost died. And I wasn't there to help. I should have known, I saw the signs."

"And do you see the signs in Mordred?"

"No." Merlin sighed. He had to be honest. He hadn't seen anything to suspect Mordred, but that didn't mean he had to like the circumstances.

Another few days past and Merlin was keeping a particularly close eye on Mordred, waiting for anything, any sign that he wasn't quiet himself.

There was something. It was probably nothing, Merlin thought to himself, but Mordred hadn't really spoken to Merlin at all since his arrival. Before they would go out to the woods almost every day to talk, but now there was nothing. But as Merlin thought to himself, it was probably nothing.

The day had been a particularly busy one, not for any specific reason, just one of those days, and Merlin had decided to finally retire for the night, only to find Gaius still awake, rummaging through large, old books. It was very late, way past the normal time Gaius went to sleep.

"What is it Gaius?"

"I think I missed something."

"What?"

"I was about to fall asleep when it popped into my head."

"What did? What popped?"

"Morgana must be using very powerful magic indeed."

"Gaius, you're making no sense."

Gaius grabbed Merlin my the shoulders pushing him into the seat adjacent to his.

"I fear Morgana has strengthened her powers. I was thinking, you were right, it really is far too strange for her to just let the boy go. I spent days thinking of what she could have done, and all along, it was sort of simple." he paused and held out a tiny bottle filled with a dark green mixture, "I've had this a long, long time. It causes the drinker to fall into a deep sleep, and simply by whispering in their ear, you can tell them exactly it is you want them to do, and when they awaken, they will go about doing it, but acting completely as themselves."

Merlin stared at him, dumbstruck by the news, "you think Mordred has taken this?"

"I'm certain."

"What can we do?"

"Stop him from doing what Morgana has asked of him. I can create an antidote but it'll take a while."

"How long?"

"A few days at least. It needs time to brew."

"That's too long. I'm going to stop him now!"

Merlin ran out and up the stairs to the knight's quarters.

He burst into Mordred's room. It was empty. The sheets were drawn back, and the door left open. Merlin ran as fast as he could to Arthur's chambers, hoping he could get there in time. He slammed open the doors, waking Arthur up, and startling the young knight who stood by the king's bed, sword drawn.


End file.
